be at home, and you will be all put right. We must not
let you run such a risk again. These wilds are not suited for young
girls to wander through alone, and you must remain in the encampment
till we get our new craft ready for sea."

"I am not much frightened, and shall soon be quite myself again, I
assure you," said Marian faintly. "Still I cannot help thinking about
that dreadful alligator. It won't come after us, will it?"

"The young mistress need not be afraid of that, unless the baste has
more lives than a Kilkenny cat," observed Tim, who had overheard her.
"It's my belief that I'd have ridden the brute to death, even if Kallolo
hadn't sent an arrow down its throat and stuck his long knife half a
dozen times in it. The alligator is hauled up high and dry on shore,
and the creature's ugly head is off its body by this time; so you may be
pretty sure that it'll not be after troubling you again."

Tim's account had at all events the effect of banishing from Marian's
mind the idea that the alligator would follow us; and Uncle Paul and I
did our best to keep up her spirits too, and prevent her thoughts from
recurring to the fearful danger she had gone through.

The time occupied in reaching our camp seemed very long; but Marian was
conveyed much more easily on the raft than she would have been through
the tangled forest. Our father saw us coming, and hurrying down to the
beach, assisted us in carrying up Marian to her hut. When he heard what
had occurred, he was greatly agitated, and blamed himself for having
allowed her to go on such an expedition. He agreed with Uncle Paul that
she must not in future be permitted to leave the village without an
escort, which must never for a moment quit her side.

The captain, who had been working at the vessel, hearing of the
accident, came hurrying to the hut with a bottle of schiedam under his
arm. "My little maid! what should we have done had she been seized by
the alligator? We should have lost all heart for work, and left our
bones to whiten on the beach!" he exclaimed in an agitated voice, which
showed how much he felt. "She must take some of this: it's the great
remedy for all diseases; and I have kept it on purpose, resisting the
temptation, when I felt inclined to take a drop to comfort my heart as I
thought of my home, and my dear frau, and the months and months that
must pass before I can see her again."

Uncle Paul gave Marian a small glassful of the sch